Be sure to include your name, daytime phone number, address, name and phone number of legal next-of-kin, method of payment, and the name of the funeral home/crematory to contact for verification of death.

Postal Service in Wichita looking into mail theft by glue traps

The U.S. Postal Service in Wichita is investigating attempted mail theft by an unusual method: glue traps.

Mail theft is not new, said Kelli Cunningham, supervisor of customer service support for Wichita. But this method is relatively new, she said Friday. Glue traps typically are used to collect spiders, rodents and other pests, not the mortgage payment.

“We have found a glue trap in a collection box,” she confirmed Friday. “I don’t know if it was successful. We removed the trap.”

Someone pushed the glue trap as deep into the collection box as possible, she said. She was unsure at which location the attempted theft occurred.

Apparently the idea was that letters, including credit-card bills and bank statements with account numbers, would stick to the glue traps.

Cunningham said people should “keep their eyes open” and report anything suspicious to the post office.

“At least once we found rope with something sticky stuck on the bottom of it,” she said.

She said she didn’t want to alarm residents and stressed that the collection boxes typically are safe. People concerned about leaving mail in the boxes can give carriers letters and packages to mail or bring them inside a post office, she said.

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